Post by Nester the Lark on Dec 17, 2018 12:11:10 GMT -5

There have been a couple of recent Retronauts podcasts that have focused on SNK, specifically the games in the Anniversary Collection.

The first episode is just kind of a rundown of the initial batch of games. The second episode actually has Frank Cifaldi discussing the collection, as well as going on some interesting tangents (like how there continued to be official NES games produced even into the 2000s). He also mentions that he pitched a "Neo Geo Rarities" collection as a follow-up to the Anniversary Collection.

I've really enjoyed the collection. The second batch of games have really filled it out, and most of the technical issues have been fixed since the update.

Post by Nester the Lark on Feb 15, 2019 12:05:25 GMT -5

So, it looks like SNK announced at Evo Japan that SNK Heroines is coming to PC via Steam on February 21. Interesting, since no new DLC has been announced since last year, and I assumed that SNK was abandoning the game and moving on due to poor sales. I wonder if this means that they plan to continue supporting the game, or if they just hope to recoup a little money from it.

To be honest, I actually did pick up a cheap copy a good while back, but I have yet to actually play it. I do want to support SNK on Switch (I wished for it, after all), but the game does make me feel... a bit awkward.

Post by Nester the Lark on Feb 26, 2019 22:11:12 GMT -5

The main lineup for Evo 2019 has been revealed, and interestingly, the new Samurai Shodown is included, despite that we still don't know many details about it. However, they did show a new (short) gameplay trailer, and revealed that it's planned for release in "early-summer." (Evo 2019 is in early August.) Still no specific platforms confirmed.

That looks really fast for a SamSho game, but I guess that's just the modern style for fighting games. Though, I worry that that loses the classic SamSho style of just one hit taking away a ton of health. SamSho wasn't really about doing long combos. It was more about being methodical and scoring the hard hits.

Post by Nester the Lark on Mar 1, 2019 19:29:07 GMT -5

Looking at the trailer more closely, I guess the damage output is about on par with the later Samurai Shodown games.

Anyway, there's going to be a panel for the game at PAX East on March 30. It will include producer Yasuyuki Oda, director Nobuyuki Kuroki, and most surprisingly, Yasushi Adachi, the original creator of Samurai Shodown who no longer works at SNK. This raises the question of if he's involved with the new game in some way. (Would be pretty cool if he was.) Hopefully, there will be video or a transcript of the panel.

About a month ago, I came across an interview with Adachi from 2017 where he talks about the creation of Samurai Shodown. It reveals some really interesting things, and is well worth a read.